Easy Totchos Recipe - The Cheese Knees (2024)

Let’s make totchos! Our easy tater tot nachos (aka totchos!) pack everything you love about nachos but use tater tots instead of tortilla chips.

Tater Tot Nachos aka Totchos

If you’ve never heard of totchos they pack the amazing flavor and ingredients of nachos but use tater tots instead of tortilla chips. You’re going to love them!

We’ll walk you through how to make them in either the air fryer or the oven. Either way, they’re a deliciously perfect appetizer or dish to pass for your next get together.

Featured Ingredients

For the ground beef mixture, you’ll need: ground beef, tomato sauce, chipotles in adobo, taco seasoning, yellow onion and red bell pepper.

Tater tots: you’ll need a bag of frozen tater tots for these totchos. Make them in the air fryer or bake them for a perfectly crispy tot.

Queso dip: we used Queso Mama white queso, but feel free to use any store-bought variety you’d like — or make your own homemade queso!

Totchos toppings: add shredded lettuce, chopped cilantro, and pico de gallo right before serving your totchos recipe.

Additional Toppings for Totchos

Don’t skip the toppings on these totchos! Here are some ideas:

• Sour cream or Greek yogurt
• White queso
• Diced tomatoes
• Fresh cilantro
• Sliced jalapeños
• Queso fresco
• Green onion
• Salsa
• Guacamole or sliced avocado

How to Make Totchos

Air fry tater tots

Preheat the air fryer to 400℉. Once preheated add the tater tots and cook for 5 minutes. Shake the basket and air fry for another 5 minutes.

Prepare ground beef

Place the tomato sauce, chipotles in adobo, and taco seasoning in a bowl, and mix together.

Heat a large skillet over medium/high heat. Add the avocado oil, ground beef, onions, and peppers and cook until the beef is fully cooked through. Stir in the taco sauce mixture and cook for an additional 1-2 minutes.

Heat queso

Heat a small saucepan with queso over low heat.

Air fryer tots, beef & queso

Remove the tater tots from the air fryer and line the basket with tin foil. Layer the tater tots first, then the meat mix, then the queso, and air fry for 2 minutes.

Add toppings, serve & enjoy!

Slide the tin foil out of the basket onto a cutting board or large plate. Top the totchos with shredded lettuce, cilantro, and pico de gallo.Serve & enjoy!

Top Tips for Amazing Totchos

Easy substitutes for ground beef: shredded or ground chicken can be subbed for ground beef. Looking to keep these totchos vegetarian? Substitute a 15 oz. can of black or pinto beans, drained and rinsed.

To make this in the oven: bake tater tots according to package directions. Top with ground beef and queso and bake for another 10 minutes. Remove from oven and follow steps 6 and 7 in the instructions.

Easy substitution for queso dip: feel free to use 1 cup of shredded cheese in place of the queso dip.

Make it spicier: add more chipotles in adobo or sliced jalapeños to spice it up.

FAQs

Storage

Totchos are best served immediately! If you have extra, we recommend storing the tater tots and ground beef separately from the remainder of the toppings.

To reheat: reheat tater tots and ground beef mixture in the air fryer for 2-4 minutes at 400℉ or until completely warm. Top with remainder of the totchos toppings, and enjoy.